The chain, which isn’t actually French, traces its roots back to a small bakery called Sangmidang, founded in 1945 in what is now North Korea.

Two weeks ago, the ubiquitous South Korean bakery chain opened its first branch in Paris, fulfilling a lifelong goal of businessman Hur Young-in, one of South Korea’s richest men.

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In 1988, Mr. Hur founded Paris Baguette as a way to tap into South Koreans’ rising wealth and taste for foreign goods.

That year, Seoul hosted the summer Olympics. And while few Koreans had visited Paris, the brand tapped into a desire for the perceived sophistication of the French capital.

Since then, as anyone living in South Korea can attest, the chain has done well. In fact, Paris Baguette has so thoroughly infiltrated its home market that the government last year effectively banned the company from opening any new outlets .

So about a decade ago, Paris Baguette began an overseas expansion plan that has taken it to Vietnam, Singapore and China, where it has 125 branches alone. In the U.S., Paris Baguette has 37 stores, most of which are clustered around Korean-American communities in California, New York and elsewhere.

Of course, one does not simply open a foreign-operated bakery called “Paris Baguette” in Paris without taking the necessary precautions. One strategy the bakery has taken: going incognito.

When the Paris branch opened last month, it did so without the Eiffel Tower motif, and downplaying its name in favor of giant signs reading “Pâtisserie” and “Boulangerie.” It’s also steering clear of its more Koreanized confections, which are infamous among expatriates — at least for now.

But will Parisians accept it?

Anne-Isabelle Blateau, a retired Parisian who has lived in Seoul for seven years, says that while she loves Korea, she can’t understand Koreans’ affection for Paris Baguette’s “soft, mushy” pastries, or for its bread, which she says tastes like someone put it in a toaster.

“If you go by the taste, it’s definitely not French,” she says. “Everything is sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet.”